Honor Killings: Justification for Oppression

Amnesty International released a report on Tuesday exposing the brutal practice of ‘honor killings’ in Pakistan. According to the report, several hundred women are killed each year for suspected affairs, for seeking divorce, and for being raped. The death of these women and girls typically comes at the hands of male family members who have virtual immunity due to legal bias and judicial practices. "In Pakistan, honor crimes are justified in the name of tradition - but the traditions themselves have been distorted and corrupted to allow for widespread abuse." Amnesty sites Pakistani governmental indifference and complicity in women’s oppression, causing widespread feelings of isolation and fear for women threatened by ‘honor crimes.’ "For some women," according to the report, "suicide appears the only means of escape."

1/27/2016 Taiwan Elects First Woman President - In a landslide victory, the leader of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen won the country's presidential election, becoming the first woman in Taiwan's history to hold the position.
Emphasizing her party's commitment to maintaining Taiwan's independence from China, Tsai won over young voters eager to usher in a political changing of the guard following some 70 years of dominance by the pro-Chinese unification party, the Kuomintang (KMT), chaired by presidential opponent Eric Chu. . . .